The Columbian Exchange free essay sample

The purpose of this paper is to help individuals to understand what all was exchanged in the Columbian Exchange according to Alfred Crosby, Jr. We will discuss several aspects of his views in this short paper. The Columbian Exchange was an exchange of plants, food, diseases, peoples, cultures, and animals. The most interactions were between the Indians and the Europeans. They exchanged technologies and goods. The Europeans also pressed their religions onto the natives. Most of the Europeans saw that the way the natives lived their lives to be barbaric. Others dealt with and accepted the natives’ ways and thought that the more radical beings were acting hypocritical. Of the diseases and other things brought to the Americas, new sources of food were made available to the world. Food is the greatest and most important thing that came out of the Columbian Exchange according to Crosby. There were not many ways of getting healthy and nutritious food. We will write a custom essay sample on The Columbian Exchange or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Bad nutrition was part of why no one could recover from any of the diseases that were amongst them. After all of the natives and other people afflicted by disease were gone, the population started to rise. Columbus had no idea what he had created. From the diseases, animals, and cultural boundaries that had been traded, the discovery of healthier foods would increase the world’s population by four times. The new increase in food supply created a wider market and availability for people to obtain the essential vitamins and nutrients their bodies need to operate efficiently and properly. More people started farming and cultivating important crops. However the planting of the same crops over and over led to an increased population in pests and insects that eat and destroy them. The planting of an entirely new crop to the area will boost the food production, which in turn will increase the population. Nobody can really tell how the population increased from the transition from wheat to maize, or the population increase. There are many reasons why the population could have increased so dramatically, whether one food more beneficial than another or not, the food change caused a population boom. According to the Russian botanist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov devised a list of the most important 640 plants cultivated by man. Five sixths were of the old world, and one sixth was from the new world. Of these crops, maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, and manioc were the most produced and consumed in the last four hundred years. It was not only the quantity of food that fueled this growth, but the quality of the food. You can have the right foods but they may not always be healthy for consumption. In conclusion, Crosby’s thesis that food production was the most relative change in the Columbian Exchange is controversial because it is often the most overlooked. It has been overshadowed by the death and plague and destruction caused by the Europeans arrival in the new world. Granted many people suffered and died from the â€Å"Discovery† of the New World, but many lives were created and/or saved from the new sources of nourishment.